A Hero's Welcome
by jadiekit
Summary: A little story about Molly's return home
1. Chapter 1

**_A Hero's welcome_**

Molly Dawes sat in the taxi home, her eyes closed. It was like when she was going on R&R but this time she was coming home for good. As she sat there in the back of the taxi her mind wondered back, much to her dislike, to Afghan. Her memory was so realistic that it was like she could feel the warm Afghan sun licking at her skin and feel the sand under her feet.

Her hands clung to her rifle as she scouted the area ahead. She looked to the ground and saw the dead bodies. All of them that she had seen during her tour. Her breath caught in her throat and her stomach churned at the sight. She felt like she was going to be sick. Most of them were so young. Too young...

She was jolted back into reality by the cab hitting a speed bump. Her breath had been fast, her heart was racing and she was sweating. Looking down she saw that her hands were gripping and an invisible rifle and she dropped them to her legs and sighs leaning her head back. She was going crazy! Leaning her head back up she looked out the window noticing that they were turning on her street. Despite everything she had missed home.

The taxi parked up and Molly paid the driver as she got out trailing around to the boot to get her bag out. Sling it over her shoulder she walked around the corner that lead to her house, having deliberately got the taxi to drop her off there as she needed to stretch her legs. As she rounded the corner she saw the whole Dawes clan, including her nan, on the balcony cheering her on, a banner hanging down saying 'Welcome home Molly!' This made Molly chuckle and she did so even more when the kids all ran down and practically caused her to fall over by hugging her. Even her dad was smiling down at her... well kind of. It felt good to be home.

Once the kids let go of their big sister she made her way up the stairs, them following behind, and up towards her parents and nan up at the top. She never thought she would have missed those stairs, that had the slight hint of urine. Reaching the top she was instantly pulled into a bear hug from her mother. "Molly... My Molly. You made it back!" she spoke, her voice proving that she was trying not to cry. "Yeah mum... I'm home." Molly kept hold of her mum until she was ready to let go and with a pat on the back from her dad they all went inside, the kids having already beat them to it.

The small cramped 'lego house' was lightly decorated and as they made their way into the living room Molly was welcomed by another surprise. It was a party and like every party there was party poppers. The kids had some in their hands and began setting them off. What would have normally been a great surprise and a welcomed one to Molly turned into a nightmare. Each time they went off she jolted, her eyes widening and her hand reaching self consciously to the rifle that wasn't there. Each bang of the poppers sounded like the all to familiar sound of gunfire. Her heart was racing, her breathing going faster, cold sweat trickled down her neck and her fingers fidgeted for the invisible rifle. 'They're just poppers...' she thought trying to calm herself down but it wouldn't work. _Bang. Bang. Bang._ She couldn't take it any more. She was feeling panicked and she needed to get the hell out of there.

"I'm going into the shower!" she weakly muttered making a 360 degree turn and headed straight up the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. She briefly heard her dad asking "What the hell is wrong with her?" Before she made it to the top of the stairs and into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. Turning the shower on she leaned against the door and slid down it, grabbing at her hair. She was crying and she couldn't stop. "Stop...stop..." she pleaded. All these thoughts of Afghan were driving her insane. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her phone, took a deep breath to steady herself and dialled a number. She listened to it ring before the person answered the phone. She heard them answer and before waiting for them to even say Hello. She went straight in. "I need you help."


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! Thanks for the great reviews! I hope you enjoy this next chapter**  
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_"I need your help"_

"What is it Mols? What's wrong?" the voice down the phone asked. Molly burst into tears, her breathing fast and rough and she gripped at her hair with her free hand. "Make it stop! Make all these thoughts stop." she muttered. She had never felt this low before. She felt like the walls of the already small bathroom was closing in on her. She felt like she was in danger. "Molly, Molly listen to my voice. You need to calm down. Steady your breathing and concentrate on the sound of my voice." Listening to the voice speaking to her on the other end of the phone she closed her eyes briefly before taking deep breaths to calm herself down and listened instantly, the voice reminding her that she wasn't alone and she sure as hell wasn't back in Afghan. "I'm sorry..." Molly practically breathed down the phone. The voice down the phone sounded calm and caring. "Where are you? I'll come meet you." Molly smiled ever so slightly and gave them the address to a pub near her to meet her in. "I'll meet you there, send me a text when you get there, it's not a long walk from me." With that the person on the other end of the phone agreed and they ended the call.

Getting up off of the bathroom floor she began taking off her kit slowly. It felt good to take them off after hours of being in them. When she was just in her underwear she found herself looking down at her body occasionally smiling. After that time Captain James wrote 'Rosabaya' upon her arm and she had told him she liked it, made her feel closer to him, he began doing it more. For times they couldn't be together. She had three to speak of. One replacing the Rosabaya with 'Come back to me', another on the other arm saying 'I love you' and the last one always made her heart leap when she read it. It was just bellow her left breast right were her heart was. What was wrote there was simple but it meant so much. 'Mine'. It was true. Her heart was his for the taking. Just his. Tracing them softly she smiled remembering when he had done them, no more then ten minutes till they had to leave for home. She was glad he had done them in permanent marker so that when she washed she wouldn't wash it off easily.

Taking off her underwear she slipped into the shower and sighed as the hot water touched her aching, dirty, body. The water felt great. Looking down at the water is was a yellowy colour just like it was when she had a shower when she was back from R&R. It felt like a relief and that she was trying to wash away the horrors of Afghan. Reaching down to the shampoo she opened it and sighed as the smell. Peppermint. Putting a lot into her hand she quickly ran it into her hair sighing. She scrubbed it into her hair, making sure to completely get it all in her hair even to her roots. It felt so good to actually have the luxury to take her time to clean. IT felt even more better when she washed it out and she could see the dirt getting all washed away. She continued to clean herself at a slow pace to make sure she was completely clean and that she was careful not to rub a lot of the ink off.

Once out of the shower she made her way into the room she shared with her sister. Opening the wardrobe she grimaced. "Did I really used to wear these?" It had just accursed to her that she only actually owned a few things that didn't make her look like a tart. "I really need to sort this out and soon... I guess I shopping trip is in major need!" she spoke to herself and picked out some jeans, a random top and a hoody, finding her converse knockoffs to wear on her feet. It didn't take her too long to get dressed and dry her hair, keeping it completely down having not been able to do so for a while. As she waited for the text she went through her photos of that tour and from Cyprus where they did their decomposition. She chuckled at two sections' stupid antics and at the good times they had and she smiled, sighing slightly at the pictures of her and her Bossman. She had even made a really cute picture of them, well that was her opinon, as her home screen, not lock screen yet though as she was yet to tell her mum about him. That meeting was one she was dreading but it needed to happen at one point.

Molly's phone vibrated with a text and she looked down smiling. Getting up she headed down stairs and straight to the door. "I'm going out!" she called before opening the door and closing it when she got out. Once outside she shivered. She wasn't used to the cold. Making her way to the pub she opened the door scanning the bar looking for the person she called. "Looking for me?" asked a voice behind her coursing Molly to jump. "Jeez Jacks! You nearly gave me a Julius Seizure." Jackie laughed and softly nudged Molly's shoulder "You going to buy me a drink seen as you made me make the journey here."

The two medics were sat at a lone table with a pint each. "What happened Molls?" Jackie asked gently looking at her fellow medic, concern in her eyes. Molly shuffled and took a sip of her beer before sighing looking down. "I keep thinking of Afghan... all those dead bodies... the gun fire..." she bit her lip trying to calm herself before continuing "My sisters and brothers set off party poppers... bloody party poppers! I knew they were only party poppers but all I could think of was that I was getting shot at and when I couldn't find my rifle I started to panic..." Jackie listened to her friend and sighed softly. It had been a hard tour for Molly and she felt bad for her even more so that it was only her first tour. "Have you spoke to Captain James about this?" she asked and saw Molly shake her head. "He needs to spend time with his family..." she muttered. "Oh cheers and I don't" Jackie teased trying to make Molly laugh but it didn't work as well as she had planned. Molly had only given her a half smile. "Molly you need to get help..." However Molly was quick to shoot that down with a shake of her head. "At least tell James... He needs to know and you need him." Jackie continued before sipping at her beer. Looking down, Molly pulled up one of her sleeves and ran her fingers over the writing 'I love you'. Molly's mind was made up. "Okay I'll message him."


End file.
